Overall
- Champaign-Urbana
- 92.7
- Appleton
- 92.4
Diff -0.3 RPP
Champaign-Urbana vs Appleton
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Appleton is 0.3% less expensive than Champaign-Urbana.
0.3% less expensive
Appleton, WI is 0.3% less expensive than Champaign-Urbana, IL on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 92.4 vs 92.7). A $100,000 salary in Champaign-Urbana buys about the same as $99,693 in Appleton; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 92.7 (Champaign-Urbana) vs 92.4 (Appleton)
- $100k in Champaign-Urbana ≈ $99,693 purchasing power in Appleton
- Rents drives the gap (-0.8 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair IL:WI 92.7→92.4
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE IL × WI
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Champaign-Urbana
92.7
Cost Index
Appleton
92.4
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Champaign-Urbana, IL and Appleton, WI are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.3 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Appleton is 0.8 points lower. But goods and services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Champaign-Urbana corresponds to $99,693 in Appleton.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Champaign-Urbana
- 93.6
- Appleton
- 93.8
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Champaign-Urbana
- 90.5
- Appleton
- 90.6
Diff +0.1 RPP
Rents
- Champaign-Urbana
- 71.6
- Appleton
- 70.8
Diff -0.8 RPP
| Category | Champaign-Urbana | Appleton | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 92.7 | 92.4 | -0.3 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.8 | +0.1 |
| Services | 90.5 | 90.6 | +0.1 |
| Rents | 71.6 | 70.8 | -0.8 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Champaign-Urbana 92.7
Appleton 92.4
Goods
Champaign-Urbana 93.6
Appleton 93.8
Services
Champaign-Urbana 90.5
Appleton 90.6
Rents
Champaign-Urbana 71.6
Appleton 70.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Champaign-Urbana and Appleton share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap narrowed, moving from 0.9 to 0.3 RPP points. Champaign-Urbana remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.0 points between the first and latest shared releases (6.1 to 0.1 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Champaign-Urbana RPP | Appleton RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 96.2 | 97.1 | 0.9 points Appleton higher |
| 2012 | 94.2 | 94.6 | 0.5 points Appleton higher |
| 2016 | 93.7 | 92.9 | 0.8 points Champaign-Urbana higher |
| 2020 | 91.9 | 92.3 | 0.4 points Appleton higher |
| 2024 | 92.7 | 92.4 | 0.3 points Champaign-Urbana higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Champaign-Urbana would need to be in Appleton for the same purchasing power:
| In Champaign-Urbana | In Appleton | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,846 | $-154 |
| $75,000 | $74,769 | $-231 |
| $100,000 | $99,693 | $-307 |
| $150,000 | $149,539 | $-461 |
$ in Champaign-Urbana = in Appleton
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (92.7 → 92.4), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Appleton more expensive than Champaign-Urbana?
Appleton is 0.3% less expensive than Champaign-Urbana. The overall cost index is 92.4 vs 92.7 (national average = 100).
What salary in Appleton equals $100K in Champaign-Urbana?
A $100,000 salary in Champaign-Urbana has the same purchasing power as $99,693 in Appleton. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Champaign-Urbana and Appleton?
Rents in Champaign-Urbana are indexed at 71.6 while Appleton is at 70.8 (national average = 100). Champaign-Urbana has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.